


Dig This

by needles



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Ereri Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 10:10:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4056130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needles/pseuds/needles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ereri week day 2, prompt - Summer Job</p><p>Levi is down in the shithole, literally, and the last thing he needs is an idiot volunteer to babysit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dig This

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies to my transatlantic cousins, and anyone else confused, for my unashamed use of British English throughout.
> 
> I love Indiana Jones as much as anyone but as a trained archaeologist he makes me cringe, this fic therefore contains no guns, bullwhips or insane chases through jungles, sorry :)

That fucking dickhead Erwin had shafted me again. I knew why too, the oversexed horny bastard thought he was going to get his leg over. I smirked at the beautiful purple and green shiner he'd been sporting this morning. I was pretty sure he wouldn't try sneaking into my caravan again, not on this excavation anyway. He and I were a mistake ten years ago and it would be a bigger mistake to repeat it now.

Of course being dig director meant he got his revenge by assigning me to the part of the site he knew I'd hate most. No more careful charting the hypocaust from the bath house for me. I was down the latrine cesspit for the week.

I zipped up my white biohazard coveralls and pulled on my gloves and facemask. No way was I risking catching some 2000 year old plague! Lowering myself carefully into the pit, I took my bucket and trowel and began to scrape through the thick, damp, black deposits, it was abso-fucking-lutely wonderful.

After two hours a shout told me it was time for a tea break. I stretched out my cramped joints and climbed carefully up the short ladder. Pulling off the muddy gloves I removed my mask and pushed back the hood. The cool breeze felt wonderful after the sticky suit. Add to that the closed atmosphere down the pit and I felt broiled in my own perspiration, it was disgusting.

"Here you go Levi, looks like you need this," Armin smiled as he handed me my tea mug. At least I could rely on him to keep my mug clean and not let anyone else use it, unlike that jackass Jean.

"Thanks, I feel filthy!" I took the tea and quenched my thirst a little.

Armin laughed, "You don't look filthy. I've never seen anyone who could keep that clean down a cesspit!"

"I just try not to touch the bloody sides is all, it's not that hard. There's no need to wallow in the muck down there like some people," I glanced pointedly at Jean.

Armin looked at the buckets of spoil lined up beside the pit, he whistled. "You've been busy, Hanji will love you forever. They'll be like a pig in muck with all that to play with!"

"Literally," I grinned. Hanji was our environmental archaeologist, and like most of those I'd met, as mad as a hatter, never happier than when sifting through ancient dirt for rodent bones or snail shells.

"Anything for me?"

I nodded to a finds tray alongside the buckets, "Looks like the usual rubbish, bones, potsherds and 'iron objects' (unidentifiable corroded lumps that always looked more exciting than they turned out to be once x-rayed), but I think there's a coin in there, just hope it's identifiable."

"Great, I'll just give out the rest of these and then I'll take those back to the finds hut." He headed off to a distant trench where Jean was looking pissed. "Hurry up Armin I don't want cold tea!" He looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, "Coming Jean, don't get your knickers in a twist."

 

 

 

Normal people would be having a leisurely breakfast, normal people would be enjoying their weekend break. I was climbing back into my pit. Not for me the 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, regular job. Archaeology was anything but. Especially when it was a race to salvage what irreplaceable evidence remained before the site was turned into another soulless office park.

I was filling my second bucket with crumbly black sludge when I heard Erwin talking. _Oh God volunteers incoming!_

Always underfunded and understaffed, Erwin had put up posters around the local University for student volunteers. I knew we needed the help but I cringed at dealing with a generation raised on a diet of Indiana Jones movies. Usually they took one look at a real dig and never came back.

The voices grew louder, I ducked lower as they headed my way.

"Morning Levi, I brought you some help."

I looked up to see Erwin and two kids, probably late teens, either side of him. One had the worst l bowl-cut I'd ever seen. "I can manage fine Erwin."

"Nonsense, can't have my best digger worn out from lifting all those buckets, besides we need to bottom that pit as soon as possible." He looked at his volunteers, "Which one of you will it be then?"

"What is that pit?" Bowl-cut asked, giving it a suspicious look.

"Cesspit," Erwin smiled, "One of the best I've ever excavated I must say, eh Levi?" I grunted, Erwin hadn't so much as touched it with a trowel.

Bowl-cut shuddered, "Then I think I'll give it a miss, I get a little claustrophobic."

His fellow volunteer had no such qualms. "I'll do it, do I get one of those cool suits?"

"Of course, my boy, of course." Erwin smarmed. I could see him sizing the lad up. _For fuck's sake Erwin, you're more than twice his age!_

"I'll leave you with Levi then, come on Marlowe, I believe Hanji has a lot of wet-sieving to do, you can help with that." He led Bowl-cut away.

"My name's Eren, nice to meet you Levi."

I looked up again, he was crouching at the edge of the pit smiling. "Keep back on the planks, idiot, you'll cave the sides in!" I snapped.

He jumped back as if stung, "Oh! Sorry."

I looked him up and down, hell he was tall, my spare suit would never fit him. I pointed with my trowel, "Head over to that end hut, ask for Armin, he'll kit you up, then get back here and shift buckets."

"Yes sir!" Eren bounded towards the huts, I returned to my scraping feeling like I'd just kicked a puppy.

Fifteen minutes later he was back, between the hood and the mask only a pair of green eyes were visible. "Here," I hoisted him a full bucket, then another. "Take them to Hanji, the hut next to Armin's, and bring back some empties." He nodded, placed his backpack next to mine, took a heavy bucket in each hand and made his way carefully to the huts.

 

I had to admit he was useful, I dug far more that morning than the day before. He asked a few questions, but they were all intelligent, not the usual 'what have you found?' that every digger is sick of hearing after one excavation. The problem is that nobody wants to hear you get excited over bones, leather fragments or potsherds, all they want is gold. But that's not the real treasure, it doesn't tell you about the people the way their rubbish does.

We sat on the planks, eating warm pasties and washing them down with mugs of tea. Standard diggers' lunch fare, I think I've sampled pasties the length and breadth of Britain. They are all disgusting, greasy cholesterol laden parcels the contents of which even Hanji wouldn't investigate, but which on a freezing dig in winter taste like heaven. Being summer they tasted like school dinners but I was hungry.

"So what are you studying?" I enquired, fully expecting him to tell me he was a history or geography undergraduate.

"I'm not."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You're not a student? But Erwin only put up the posters around the University."

"Oh? Should I be?" He looked panicked as if he expected to be kicked off the site.

I shook my head, "Doesn't matter, we need all the help we can get. I just wondered how you saw Erwin's ads?"

"I work in the coffee bar in the Student's Union, there was one on the notice board in there."

I nodded, that made sense. "So how old are you Eren, since I had you pegged for a student?"

"About the same as you I guess, twenty two."

I almost choked on my pasty, waving him off as he moved forward, panic spreading across his face. I gulped a mouthful of tea and got my breath back. "Add another ten to that and you'd be right kid."

"Thirty two! I don't believe you."

"Wanna see my driving licence?"

He shook his head, "You must have a hideous portrait in your attic then." _Not a student but he knew his Oscar Wilde, I noted._

I laughed, "Oh I have, it's one of those ghastly Victorian farm animals."

He grinned, "What, a giant fat pig?"

I shook my head, "Cow, like a barrage balloon."

I smirked as his shoulders shook. He was cute as fuck, damned if I was going to let Erwin get a finger on him, the dirty old pervert.

 

By the time digging was over for the day the pit was a good foot deeper, it doesn't sound much but when you're scraping off layers no more than half an inch thick with a trowel only 3 inches long that's a lot of digging. Eren had probably walked a couple of miles back and forth with buckets but he never complained. I clambered out for the last time aware of every stiff joint in my body, I certainly felt my years even if Eren couldn't see them. I watched him stacking the empty buckets carefully, upside down in case of rain, smart kid.

"Ok Eren, time to get cleaned up, follow me." We grabbed our bags and I led him across to a spot behind Armin's hut where temporary shower and toilet blocks had been parked. We stripped off our suits, gloves and boots and stepped inside the cabin. "They're not flashy, but the water's hot enough and compared to my student days this is luxury."

Eren raised an eyebrow and I elaborated, "When you needed to pee you hunted down a tree, anything else you hoped there was a pub nearby, and for washing there was a cold hosepipe."

The two cubicles each had an open front area with a shelf, beyond that a curtain shielding the shower itself. I grabbed two towels from a pile and tossed him one then stepped up to one shower and started to strip. Eren's eyes widened and he reddened. "No need to be embarrassed kid, nothing either of us haven't seen before is there?" I chuckled. He shook his head and started to undress. I decided to give him a break and turned my back, finished stripping and stepped into the cubicle, placing my clothes on the shelf. I showered thoroughly, until I heard the water turn off next door. By the time I emerged to dry off Eren was half dressed. Still, half naked was impressive enough, no wonder the heavy buckets had been no trouble.

"Fancy supper and a pint?" I asked, pulling on my shirt and wriggling my still slightly damp feet into clean socks and my trainers. He looked surprised, "Is that ok?" I gave him a friendly slap on the back on my way out, "Sure, you've earned it." _Hmm, impressively firm._

Dropping off our digging gear at Armin's hut we headed off down the road. The Royal Oak was already filling up, a crowd of locals were yelling insults and praise in equal measure at the TV tuned to a football match. A steady _thunk, thunk, thunk_ from a far corner told of a darts match in progress, and the bar staff bustled about collecting empty glasses and bottles.

I led the way to the back away from the games area, it was quieter and most of the diggers were already ensconced there, drinks and food filling the tables. Armin called and Eren and I squeezed around the end of a long table beside him. I looked at Eren, "What do you fancy to eat? The chips are pretty good here and the steak and chicken are both edible."

"Steak and chips sounds good." I nodded, "Drink?"

"Pint of bitter please."

"Right," I made my way to the bar, put in our food order and returned with two beers.

"What do I owe you?" he reached for his wallet. I shook my head, "Like I said, you earned it."

"Thanks."

 

By the time we all left, some more unsteady than others, Eren was on first name terms with the whole team. We strolled back towards the site, the cool air refreshing. I felt tired though, I'd had to thwart Erwin's attempts to inveigle himself into our corner without making it obvious to Eren what was going on. Armin had helped once with a perfectly timed pint of beer tipped over Erwin's crotch that kept him hiding behind a tabletop for a good hour. I owed him a drink for that one.

"I've been meaning to ask you, what happened to Erwin's eye?" Eren's question dragged me back to the present. I lowered my voice a touch, after all the others weren't that far ahead of us and sound carries at night. "Well the official explanation is he tripped and fell on the way back to his caravan last night."

"Official explanation?" Eren grinned, "And the unofficial one?" I paused before I answered, "Someone took offence at him sneaking into the wrong bunk."

"Who.." I shook my head, "If I tell you that I may have to kill you, and I know lots of places to hide your body." He laughed. It was a good sound.

 

 

Sunday dawned, a little damp after an overnight shower but the sun was drying the site by the time we got started. I held out my hand, "Here, you'll need this." He took the trowel and looked at me, " You're going to let me dig?" I grinned, "Why should I do it all?"

"But what if I mess up?"

"You won't. You've been watching everything I've been doing haven't you?" I could just see the slight blush as he agreed, adorable. I climbed back into the pit, "I'll make a start then you can carry on."

I began the next layer, pointing out how to look for soil changes and how deep to go. Then I changed places with him. Eren was a natural, he dug carefully but efficiently and safely spotted a group of animal bones that began to emerge, cleaning round them and then lifting each into the finds tray I passed down. There was a clink as his trowel hit something hard. He looked up, "Levi?"

"Sounds like pot, just remove it like the bones." Slowly he extracted a large potsherd, distinctively red and with raised patterns on it. He brushed off as much dirt as he could and held it up. "Wow!"

I grinned, "Armin is going to love you, that's Samian Ware, he's a total nerd for that stuff. It looks like part of a bowl, is there anything in the bottom?" Eren turned it round, "Some kind of mark but it means nothing to me."

"Probably a maker's mark, Armin will know. That's great, we can probably date the site pretty well from that and the coin I found yesterday."

Under his mask I could tell he sported a wide smile. He placed the sherd carefully in the tray and scraped some more.

We took turns digging down another seven or eight inches and I noticed that the sides of the pit were beginning to close in a little. It looked like we were getting near to the bottom at last, maybe another day would finish the job.

Eren paused his scraping, "Levi?"

I looked down, "What've you got now?" He shook his head, holding up a brown hard lump, "I dunno, it's hard but it looks like shit."

I snorted and my shoulders shook as I doubled up, my laughter only slightly muffled by my mask.

"Levi, are you ok?" The poor kid sounded worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I spluttered. "Ten out of ten Eren."

His eyebrows just rose. "That's exactly what it is, shit, this was a cesspit remember."

He held the object at arm's length and placed it in the finds tray, "Riiiiight".

"It's fossilised shit, we call it coprolite. It's fine, it won't harm you and it will give Hanji hours of fun analysing what our local Romans were eating, and pooping. But if you like I'll deal with it."

He shook his head, "It's ok, I can deal with crap, even Roman crap." This kid was a gem. I was going to miss him during the week. But Eren had a surprise for me.

"You're coming tomorrow too? I thought you would be working?" I asked in surprise as we cleaned up at the end of the day.

"My stint at the cafe ended last week it's vacation now. There's not enough customers in summer so I just work term time."

"Well I won't say I'm not glad to hear it but don't you need a paid job, how will you manage?"

"I'm fine, I save up during the terms, I don't have rent since I inherited my cottage from my Gran. It's tiny but cheap to run."

"What about your parents?" He shook his head, "They died in a car accident when I was a kid, my Gran brought me up."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I was only three, I barely remember them really. Gran passed away last year so now it's just me."

He declined the pub this time saying he had chores to catch up on tonight and I will flatly deny that I watched him walk down the road until he turned the corner out of sight, no matter what Armin thinks he saw. All that squinting over pots is obviously ruining his eyesight.

On my way to the pub I gave some thought as to whether Erwin could be persuaded to put him on our payroll for the duration of the dig? It was small but we did have a budget for casual labour.

 

Erwin eyed me carefully. "Don't mess with him Levi. I don't want anything to disrupt the work. We only have two months left."

I curled my lip, look who was talking! Everyone had seen his caravan shaking, and we all knew why.

"No need to worry Erwin I'm not one for leaving a trail of broken hearts in my wake."

He frowned, knowing exactly what I meant. Then he sighed, "Ok I'll hire him, but it's your job to train him. I won't argue that we don't need more regular diggers, heaven knows. You say he's learning fast?"

"He watches carefully, listens and does what he's told without argument. He works hard and doesn't make mistakes."

Erwin smirked, "He sounds a veritable paragon. It's not like you to approve a new digger, you usually spend at least a month finding fault before they can even dig the same trench."

"Yeah, well most of them are idiots."

I smiled as I left Erwin's caravan, the pay wasn't much but Eren now had a summer job. Then I stopped, what if he turned it down? I spent the next few hours worrying that I was interfering where I had no right to.

 

The way his face lit up when I told him made it clear I needn't have fretted. "The pay is barely minimum wage and we'll work you like a slave but the job's yours if you'd like it. Unless of course you had other plans?"

He shook his head, "No plans, sounds great, I was thinking it was going to be pretty boring on my own this year. Thanks Levi."

 

We finished the pit by noon so after cleaning up and eating lunch Erwin sent us across to the other side of the site. "You can start on this last part of the bath house, it's probably just a storeroom but take it down till you get to the floor ok?"

I nodded, motioned to Eren and we knelt side by side at one end of the small walled area. "You know the drill, it looks like the floor will be around six or seven inches down if it matches the other rooms. Just keep an eye out for small finds, tesserae and plaster round the edges."

He looked at me, puzzled, "Tesserae?"

"Small cubes, they're usually coloured stone, it's what the mosaics are made from."

"Oh those. You think there might be a mosaic under here?" He stared at the earth beneath his knees.

"Probably not if it's just a storage room but you never know."

It was a relief to be working without the stifling suit at last, the sun was warming my back but it was a pleasant heat, unlike that portable sweat bath. I dug a little faster than Eren, no surprise there, but it gave me a chance to pause as he caught up. As well as a chance to admire a very fine rear view seasoned with tantalising glimpses of skin through the rips in his worn jeans.

"It's red?"

"What's red?" I looked to where he was just starting a new layer. "Let me see. Oh!" I turned and shouted, "ERWIN!"

Erwin agreed "Definitely, painted wall plaster, nice! If this room was decorated it may have been more important after all. Keep on digging, I'll fetch Armin, he'll want to preserve as much of this as we can."

The plaster ran around each wall, only the bottom couple of inches remained, and much of that was breaking away. It was slow, careful work, with pauses whilst Armin took numerous photographs for the records. I was just cleaning one corner out when my trowel hit something hard, taking a brush I cleared the dirt back and grinned."Eren."

He turned and looked at the spot, "Awesome!"

"Levi I swear you are one lucky bastard!" A loud voice made me look up. Jean was looking down, a scowl on his perspiring face. "I've been slaving in that damned trench all day and got nothing but backache, you get painted plaster and a bloody mosaic." Beside me I could hear stifled laughter. Eren had summed Jean up the first night in the pub muttering 'douchebag' at his drunken antics. I couldn't really disagree, though underneath the bluster he was alright really and I knew I'd be able to rely on him if push came to shove.

I gave him my sickliest smile, "Just not your lucky day I guess Jean."

 

It took us a week to uncover the mosaic, it had some damaged patches where tree roots or animals had broken through, but on the whole it was in pretty good shape. A border of black and white interlace surrounded by red and white stripes framed a panel of interlocking circles in red and grey on a white background. It was typical of the geometric mosaics of Roman Britain, I'd seen similar ones at other sites like Chedworth. We were lucky this end room had been just beyond the range of the ploughing that had damaged large parts of the other floors.

Having spent a week uncovering it Eren and I were tasked with filling it in now it was fully recorded. Eren looked rather puzzled at Erwin's order. "It's the best way to preserve it," I explained. If we leave it open the weather will damage it, we'll fill it in so it can be re-opened in the future if need be."

He nodded, "I understand. Seems a pity no one will be able to see it though."

"Well Erwin did tell me that given the finds here so far the developers are now looking at ways they can incorporate the site into the development as a tourist attraction so perhaps one day you'll see it again. If that happens you'll be able to tell your kids you helped excavate it."

"Yeah perhaps." Somehow it sounded unconvincing, but I dismissed it from my mind. We had work to do.

The weather, in typically British fashion, decided mid afternoon that we had had more than our ration of sun for the week. Large black clouds begin building, fuelled by the heat, and inevitably the rain came down like stair rods. Everyone else packed up but the backfilling couldn't wait, we had to cover the mosaic, so we ploughed on, joined by Jean and Armin, shovelling the heavy soil back into the room until it was filled again. By the time we finished all four of us were soaked and filthy. I sent Eren to let Erwin know we were done.

They returned, Erwin holding a huge golf umbrella over them both. They were discussing something but I couldn't make anything out other than Eren shaking his head. Erwin checked the work and agreed it was filled enough for us to pack up and go.

Of course the shower cabin only had two showers, I was about to suggest we toss for first go when Eren nudged my arm , "If you want you and I can use my cottage, Levi. It's only a ten minute walk away," he sounded a little nervous but no way was I going to miss this opportunity.

"Why not, I'm already soaked, another ten minutes won't matter," I replied as nonchalantly as I could muster. I don't think Armin was fooled though, I swear he winked.

 

Eren almost had to duck through his front door, he wasn't kidding when he said it was tiny, but it was a gem, it looked about four hundred years old judging from the exposed beams and low ceilings. We shed our soaked jackets and boots in the hallway and he led me upstairs. I gaped when I saw a state of the art wet room with a walk in shower.

"The Council gave us a grant to get it installed when Gran couldn't manage the bath any more," he explained. I realised that it was fitted with safety hand rails and a folding seat.

"You can go first, I'll fetch you some towels and see if I have something that will fit you, though I expect most of my stuff will be a bit big."

It was bliss, I stood letting the hot water massage the stiffness out of my back and shoulders in a way the site showers could never do. Washing my hair I recognised the scent and realised it was the shampoo I'd unconsciously been smelling on Eren for a week.

The clothes almost swamped me, the T-shirt reached down to mid thigh, and I had to roll up the sweat pants a bit so as not to trip. I made my way back downstairs. Eren handed me a hot coffee, "Feel better?"

"Much, thanks. Your turn now."

"I won't be long, grab a seat, put the TV on if you like."

I perched on the little two-seater sofa in the living room, it was filled with photographs and ornaments, clearly collected by his Gran over many years. Holiday souvenirs, needlepoint pictures, a pair of Staffordshire dogs on the mantelpiece, either side of an antique clock. There was even a hand-made rag rug in front of the fireplace and a set of shiny brass fire irons.

"Chintzy isn't it?" I turned and he was standing in the doorway towelling his hair, in nothing but a pair of clean jeans. _Shit those abs!_

"I'd call it cosy ," I smiled.

"I should clear it out but..."

"There's nothing wrong with valuing the past." I gave a snort, "Shit I sound like Erwin giving one of his PR lectures."

Eren laughed. "Speaking of Erwin, he asked me out today."

I felt my gut twist, "Sounds like Erwin, he never wastes time." My casual tone sounded fake even to me.

Eren shrugged, "I turned him down. He's not my type, I never did go for tall, pushy blondes."

I smiled, "He'll be gutted, he's had his eye on you since the day you came."

He tossed his towel over a chair and joined me on the sofa, throwing an arm across the back and half turning to face me, "I know, and I should thank you and Armin for keeping him at bay," he gave a chuckle, " that beer was a stroke of genius."

"Armin has an IQ of 167, he _is_ a genius." And damned cute with it I thought miserably.

"Ah, but he's another blonde and I have a weakness for dark hair and grey eyes," Eren sighed softly as his hand brushed up my thigh, leaving my skin tingling and a warm feeling building in my crotch.

I turned my head and looked into those bright green eyes, hell they were gorgeous. "Are you trying to seduce me Eren?" He traced a lazy fingertip through my hair and down my face, "Am I succeeding?"

"I'm ten years older than you, remember?" It was a lame token protest I knew.

"You're thirty-two, hardly ancient, you have a foul mouth, a kind heart, the patience of a saint when it comes to your work and training an idiot like me, and it's all wrapped up in the hottest body I've ever seen. You think I care about ten years?"

"You think I'm kind?" It had been a while since anyone told me that, if ever. He smiled warmly, "Oh you hide it well, I grant you, but yeah, you are." I felt the heat rise up my face as he leaned closer, "You don't need to go back to the site tonight do you?"

"No," I whispered, as he pressed his mouth to mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck. This summer's digging season was looking a whole lot more promising than it had a week ago.


End file.
